Amazon is the most widely used digital marketplace in the United States. People use it to purchase everything from clothes and electronics to kitchen appliances. Some even rely on Amazon for many of their purchases because their prices are so low, and the delivery service is so convenient.
However, many users report that their Avast Antivirus software will suddenly block Amazon seemingly from nowhere and immediately terminate any connection attempt made to the website.
If this is happening to you, we understand that this experience is very frustrating. In this article, we’ll detail both why this happens and how you can go about fixing this so you can continue using Amazon trouble-free.
Why is Avast blocking Amazon?
While a few things occur to make Avast block or intercept connections to the Amazon servers, the most common issue is that it’s simply a false positive, and we have to whitelist the website.
Of course, this isn’t always the case, so we’ll detail the other culprits that might cause this problem.
Cloudfront.net is blocked
Cloudfront is what’s known as a CDN or content delivery network. They supply all the data, pictures, and videos required to display Amazon and create your browser-based shopping experience for you.
Users have reported en masse that when Avast updates its software, sometimes the connection to Cloudfront is falsely flagged as malicious and will no longer be able to access Amazon from a web browser.
There are a few workarounds to quickly regain access to Amazon and some more permanent settings adjustments we can make to ensure Avast Free Antivirus doesn’t block Cloudfront again.
Avast Web Shield
Unlike a virus scan performed at select intervals, Avast Web Shield is designed to monitor network traffic and file transfers in real-time. It will then interject when it finds something it suspects as malicious.
Suppose Avast has recently updated its virus and malware definitions, which has caused an unexpected interaction with Amazon. In that case, the Core Shield settings may need to be adjusted to stop it from blocking Amazon.
Avast requires an update.
As we mentioned, when an update comes out for Avast that breaks something, especially something as important as access to a website as popular and widely used as Amazon.com, the forums will light up with reports of this issue, and Avast is usually pretty quick to issue out a hotfix to fix it.
Therefore, in many scenarios, if you’ve been experiencing Avast blocking Amazon for more than a few hours, a hotfix may be made available that you can download by updating Avast.
How to stop Avast from blocking Amazon
Of course, we must fix this issue as soon as possible so you can check on your outstanding orders and continue using the website at your leisure.
Fortunately, all the fixes for this issue are pretty simple. We’ll walk you through how to get Amazon back up and run.
Unblock Cloudfront.net
While we also need to address the Amazon.com URL directly, the real culprit in many cases is the content delivery network known as CloudFront, which Avast will sometimes decide to flag as a potential threat.
To prevent Avast from blocking the Amazon CDN, follow these steps:
- Open the Avast dashboard and navigate to the menu and then Settings.
- Select General at the top, and then pick the fourth tab called “Exceptions.”
- Here, click the green button called “Add exception.”
- Add the Cloudfront.net URL, and you can also add Amazon.com as a second exception if you wish.
Now Avast free antivirus will no longer block access to these URLs, which should restore access to the website.
Use the app
While this is not a great permanent solution if you are in a rush and need to order something urgently or check on a delivery time, Amazon has an APP that can be used on both a smartphone and your Windows machine.
This can be helpful, as Avast accessing Amazon through the app can bypass direct access to the CDN, often allowing the website to work just fine.
Disable HTTPS scanning in Avast Web Shield
The Core Shield is different from Antivirus because it offers real-time monitoring of your computer’s activity and can immediately prevent any malicious attack or data transfer.
However, if this is causing problems accessing Amazon, you need to disable it. You can do so by following these steps:
- Open Avast dashboard and navigate to the menu, then Settings.
- Click Protection > Core Shields, and then “Configure shield settings.”
- Locate the third tab called “Web shield.”
- From here, uncheck the box named “Enable HTTPS scanning.”
In many scenarios, this will allow your browser to access the CDN, thus restoring access to Amazon.
Temporarily disable Avast
Suppose you need to use Amazon quickly and can see their support team is working on a more permanent hotfix on the forum. In that case, it might be a good idea to use Avast’s temporary disable option so you can give yourself time to use the website uninterrupted.
To do this, locate the Avast security icon in the system tray and right-click on it. From here, you can disable Avast for 10 minutes, allowing you to use Amazon in peace without leaving your computer at risk for any length of time.
Update Avast virus definitions
Soon after an issue has been identified as a false positive, Avast security will issue an update to their virus and malware definitions that will instruct the Avast software to stop falsely flagging a particular website.
Therefore, ensuring the virus and malware definitions are up to date can help eliminate the issue of Avast blocking Amazon.
Follow these steps to get your Avast definitions updated.
If this doesn’t work, it’s also a good idea to reinstall the Avast Antivirus suite, as there may be some residual glitches or file errors that a reinstall will correct.
Contact Avast support
If the suggestions mentioned above have not worked, you can head to the Avast forum to speak with their support moderators about how to solve the issue.
This is particularly important if this issue is also occurring for other users, as Avast will give more attention to it if many people are contacting them about the problem.
